Hiawatha

Hiawatha was a Native American leader of the 1500s who became a legend for
his role in bringing the people of the five Iroquois nations together.
According to the stories, he helped persuade the tribes to live in peace
and join forces against their enemies.

Hiawatha (whose name means "he makes rivers") was a member
of the Mohawk tribe of present-day New York. After becoming a chief, he
met the
prophet
Dekanawida, who had a plan to unite the people of the Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. Hiawatha embraced Dekanawida's plan
and set out to explain it to the individual tribes. However, he soon
encountered opposition from the powerful Onondaga chief Atotarho, who
refused to cooperate with Hiawatha. Iroquois tales say that Atotarho sent
an enormous white bird to seize Hiawatha's daughter and kill her.

prophet
one who claims to have received divine messages or insights

Despite this staggering loss, Hiawatha continued to work with the five
nations, advising them to resolve their differences and live at peace with
one another. The myths describe the magical white canoe he traveled in.
For a time, the tribes lived in harmony. Then suddenly, the peace was
shattered by the invasion of other Native Americans intent on war.
Hiawatha called the leaders of the five nations together and declared that
no tribe could withstand these
attacks alone. He assigned each tribe a task to carry out to protect and
defend their new nation, which he named the Iroquois. Then he sailed into
the air in his sacred canoe.

Hiawatha helped Dekanawida unite the people of the five Iroquois
nations—the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and
the Seneca.

Another character named Hiawatha appears in
The Song of Hiawatha,
a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1855. Longfellow's work
has no connection with the Iroquois leader. It is based on an Algonquian
hero who brought many of the gifts of civilization to his people. The
poem's haunting rhythms and vivid images of woodland life have made a
lasting impression on generations of readers.